Consumer Advocacy

If you are a parent of a small child, you may want to think twice before you reach into your pocket for change to feed a coin-operated ride at the mall or arcade. Parents have good reason to be concerned about their children riding a dangerous-looking roller coaster. But the results of a recent study at the Center of for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, show that coin-operated rides were more likely to cause injury to younger kids, 5 and under, than in older children. In fact, “mall rides” , amusement rides located in a mall, restaurant, arcade or store, accounted for 11,000 injuries in children between the years 1990-2010.

Most injuries occur in warm weather, from May through September and tend to result from a fall. Some of the rides are located over hard, unpadded surfaces and may not have restraints that secure the child on the ride. Injuries often occur when a child hits a body part or is hit by something within the ride or falls on, in, off or against the ride. The young children injured on the “mall-rides” are more apt to suffer head, face and neck injuries. Since younger kids have proportionately larger heads than older children, their center of gravity is higher and balance is poor, they may be challenged to stay on these kinds of rides.

Although serious injury from these rides is rare, head, neck and traumatic brain injury, as well as complex fractures, have the potential to cause serious, lifetime disabilities in children. The attorneys at the Law Offices of Henry Hanflik encourage parents to be vigilant and assess whether your child is developmentally able to get on, off and sit on a ride before you pay for the ride.

If you or your loved one has been injured by a “mall-ride” or amusement park ride, the Law Offices of Henry Hanflik can help you now. Call us for a free consultation at 810-720-4000 or 888-905-4632.